A Republican Delegate vying for Senator Tim Kaine’s job offended Democrats last week with a speech he gave on the floor of the General Assembly. Democrats punched back during floor speeches Monday.
Nick Freitas of Culpeper told reporters that his speech on gun rights was unrelated to his bid for the GOP Senate nomination. But since, Freitas hasn’t shied away from the attention it’s earned him in conservative media.
On Twitter, he shared an article from the Conservative Review headlined “ON FIRE: Watch this GOP Senate candidate stun Second Amendment snowflakes into recess.”
On Facebook, the video of Freitas’ speech has been viewed more than 11 million times.
Monday morning, Freitas was on Fox and Friends describing what inspired his defense of the GOP’s response to school shootings.
“There’s a number of factors that we’re trying to address with this issue. But it always gets reverted right back to gun control as being the only potential solution. And then on top of that some of the rhetoric has been used to describe us has just been completely unacceptable,” Freitas told the show’s hosts. “And at that point I had just got tired of it.
Freitas’ speech devolved beyond gun control. He blamed the role of the “abortion industry” and “welfare state” in corrupting society. He also reprimanded the Democratic party for its support of segregation without explaining any of the history. After the Civil War, it was white Southern Democrats that championed Jim Crow legislation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvaI36UB2eY
In the House of Delegates Monday, several black lawmakers stood up and spoke back. Delegate Delores McQuinn of Richmond criticized Freitas’ speech as lacking context.
“Some of you will never feel the wounds or the pain as a result of slavery or Jim Crow, and to stand in here and say the Democrats supported slavery without putting that statement in a historical context was misleading and hurtful,” she said.
Luke Torian of Prince William County called for civility.
“I just simply respectfully ask that before we speak, let us think about what we’re going to say and what may be the implication of our words,” Torian said. “Because every now and then we mean one thing, but boy can it turn out to be something else.”
As the legislative session winds down, Freitas’ speech may be the first bang of election season politics. The Republican primary for Tim Kaine’s Senate seat is in June. Freitas is competing against Corey Stewart.
Stewart is chairman of Prince William’s Board of Supervisors and he’s known for being loud and brash. Last week he criticized Republicans in the House of Delegates for supporting Medicaid expansion by calling them flimsy and flaccid. He held a press conference where he waved around a roll of toilet paper.
According to a poll released Monday by Christopher Newport University, Stewart currently holds a lead in the race. The poll, which was taken before Freitas’ speech, had him polling only at 6-percent.
The race hasn’t gotten much attention yet though. 66-percent of GOP voters polled are still undecided, and Senator Tim Kaine has a 20-point lead over any of his potential rivals.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
